Article testing apparatus



June 1969 D. wQMouNs ETAL 3, 7,67

ARTICLE TESTING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1966 EIVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIQIIIIIA (a I m JW MW r laww,m, M q

United States Patent US. Cl. 20973 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus are disclosed for testing rod-like articles such as cigarettes to detect defective cigarettes. Two conveyor drums are provided with flutes in their external surfaces, each of the flutes conforming to the total external surface on opposite sides respectively of a plane through the axis of the cigarette. Suction holes are provided at each end of each flute. Correctly shaped cigarettes will be retained first in a flute of the first drum and then when transferred to a flute in the second drum will be retained there also, but an incorrectly shaped cigarette will not fit closely over the suction holes in a flute of either the first or second drum and will fall therefrom.

This invention concerns improvements in or relating to a method of and apparatus for testing rod-like articles such as cigarettes.

Manufactured cigarettes, which may consist entirely of a tobacco filler enclosed in a paper wrapper or which may be mouthpiece cigarettes including a mouthpiece portion (such as a filter plug) at one end, are sometimes defective. For example the seam of a cigarette, which is usually formed by overlapping edges of the paper wrapper which are pasted together, may not be properly sealed, or there may be holes in the Wrapper itself. In the case of mouthpiece cigarettes, in which the mouthpiece portion is joined to the cigarette portion by means of a uniting band of material such as cork which encircles the cigarette so as to overlap and hold together the two portions, the uniting band may not be properly sealed all around the cigarette.

It is desirable that after their manufacture cigarettes should be tested and defective cigarettes rejected. Testing methods and devices have been proposed to test cigarettes for defects such as those mentioned above but these methods and devices can be complicated and expensive.

Some of the more noticeable and objectionable defects in cigarettes are apparent as variations in the shape or dimensions of a cigarette from the desired shape and dimensions. For example, a cigarette may be too short or may have an incorrect diameter, and some of the defects mentioned previously may adversely affect the shape or dimensions of a cigarette. For example, an improperly sealed seam may cause the diameter of the cigarette to be increased, and an improperly sealed corner of a uniting band on a mouthpiece cigarette may become bent so as to project outwardly from the remainder of the cigarette. A cigarette may be bent or otherwise misshaped.

According to the invention there is provided testing apparatus for testing rod-like cylindrical articles, comprising a channel to engage an article from above, the channel being at least as long as an article of correct length and being shaped to fit substantially exactly over part (e.g. half) of the cylindrical surface of a satisfactory article, and having suction ports positioned to engage a satisfactory article very close to its ends, whereby only satisfactory articles come within the effective range of the suction ports and are supported in the channel.

Further according to the present invention there is provided apparatus for testing rod-like articles, such as cigarettes, comprising first and second conveyor means each having recesses shaped and dimensioned according to the desired shape and dimensions of the rod-like articles to be tested so that one half of a correctly shaped and dimensioned rod-like article to one side of a plane through its axis can be accommodated therein so as to substantially fit a recess, suction means to apply suction to each of the said recesses while an article is accommodated therein so that if the article is correctly shaped and dimensioned so as to substantially fit the recess it is held therein by suction but if the article is incorrectly shaped or dimensioned so as to fail to fit the recess it fails to be held by suction and can fall therefrom, and means to feed rod-like articles in succession into the recesses of said first conveyor means so that one half of each article to one side of a plane through its axis can be accommodated in a recess of said first conveyor means, articles being transferred from the recesses of said first conveyor means to the recesses of said second conveyor means so that the other half of each article to the other side of the said plane through its axis can be accommodated in a recess of said second conveyor means, whereby the shape and dimensions of one side of each article can be tested on said first conveyor means and the shape and dimensions of the other side of the article can be tested on said second conveyor means, and defective articles which fail to fit a recess of either the first or the second conveyor means and thereby fail to be held in the recess by suction can fall therefrom.

The first and second conveyor means may comprise rotatable drums having longitudinal peripheral flutes forming said recesses and the said suction means may include suction holes disposed one adjacent each end of each flute and connected to a common suction source, the length of each flute being substantially equal to the desired length of the rod-like articles to be tested. The drums may be positioned one immediately adjacent, and preferably directly above, the other so that the articles can be transferred from the flutes of one drum directly to the flutes of the other.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a method of testing, rod-like articles, such as cigarettes, comprising the steps of receiving a rod-like article successively in a first and a second element each having a recess shaped and dimensioned according to the desired shape and dimensions of the rod-like articles to be tested so that one half of a correctly shaped and dimensioned rod-like article to one side of a plane through its axis can be accommodated in so as to substantially fit the recess, and applying suction to each of said recesses While an article is accommodated therein so that if the article is correctly shaped and dimensioned so as to substantially fit the recess it is held therein by suction but if the articleis incorrectly shaped or dimensioned so as to fail to fit the recess it fails to be held by suction and can fall therefrom, the rod-like article being received in the recess of the first element so that one half of the article to one side of a plane through its axis can be accommodated in the recess of the first element, and being transferred to the recess of the second element so that the other half of the article to the other side of the said plane through its axis can be accommodated in the recess of the second element.

Apparatus according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of apparatus for testing cigarettes, and

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line 11-11 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 1, mouthpiece cigarettes C of cylindrical form are fed in succession transversely of their axes in a fluted chain conveyor 1 which passes around fluted wheels 2, the wheels 2 rotating in the direction shown by the arrow so that the cigarettes are fed to the left as viewed in FIGURE 1. Adjacent the wheels 2 is a first conveyor element in the form of a drum 3 which is mounted on a hollow shaft 4 and rotates in the direction shown by the arrow. The drum 3 has longitudinal peripheral flutes 5 which form recesses shaped and dimensioned according to the desired shape and dimensions of the cigarettes to be tested so that one half of a correctly shaped and dimensioned cigarette to one side of a plane through its axis can be accommodated in so as to substantially fit a flute. Thus the flutes 5 extend the whole length of the drum 3, which length is equal to the desired length of the cigarettes C, and the flutes 5 have a substantially semi-curcular cross-section whose radius equals the desired radius of the cigarettes C. The flutes 5 thus form substantially semi-cylindrical recesses in which one half of a cylindrical cigarette can be accommodated to substantially fit the recess if the cigarette is correctly shaped and dimensioned. Ridges 6 between the flutes 5 are slightly radiused for a reason to be explained later.

Referring now also to FIGURE 2, disposed one adjacent each end of each flute 5 are suction holes 7 which communicate with a common longitudinal bore 8 in the drum 3. The bore 8 connects with a radial hole 9 which can communicate through a slot 10' in the hollow shaft 4 with the space in this shaft to which suction is applied. As shown in FIGURE 1, the slot 10 extends round part of the shaft 4 so that suction can be applied to the flutes 5 over that part of the drums travel where cigarettes are to be carried by the drum.

The sizes of the suction holes 7, bore 8 and radial hole 9 are so arranged in relation to the suction applied that when both suction holes 7 in a flute 5 are covered by a cigarette accommodated in and substantially fitting the flute, the suction retains the cigarette in the flute, but if either one of the suction holes 7 is not properly covered by the cigarette, by reason of the latter failing to lit the flute, then the suction is insufficient to retain the cigarette in the flute and it can fall therefrom. In the particular embodiment described, a suctional pressure of mercury is applied to the hollow centre of shaft 4 and holes 7, bore 8 and hole 9 have respective diameters of inch, inch and inch. The ridges 6 between adjacent flutes 5 are radiused, as mentioned previously, to facilitate the falling of a cigarette, which fails to be held by suction, from a flute and to reduce the risk of a cigarette, not held by suction, being retained in the flute by friction.

Beneath the drum 3 there is provided a receptacle 11 to receive any cigarettes which fall from the flutes of the drum.

Immediately adjacent and directly above the drum 3 is a second conveyor element in the form of a drum 12 which is, in all material respects, identical to the drum 3 already described. Thus the drum 12 has longitudinal peripheral flutes 13 of the same shape and dimensions as the flutes 5 on the drum 3, and is positioned so that cigarettes can be transferred directly from flues 5 to flutes 13. It will be seen that by this arrangement one half of a cigarette to one side of a plane through its axis can be accommodated in a flute 5 of the drum 3 and the cigarette can then be transferred to the drum 12 so that its other half, to the other side of the said plane through its axis, can be accommodated in a flute 13.-

The drum 12 rotates in the direction shown by the arrow, and is mounted on a hollow shaft 14 having a slot 15, similar to slot 10, which extends round the shaft over that part of the drums travel where cigarettes are to be carried by the drum. Each flute 13 in the drum 12 is provided with suction holes, one adjacent each end, which can communicate through a common longitudinal bore and a radial hole with the slot 15 in exactly the same way as the suction holes 7, bore 8 and hole 9 are provided in association with each flute 5 on the drum 3, and suction is applied to the hollow centre of shaft 14.

Below the drum 12 there is provided a receptacle 16 to receive any cigarettes which fall from the flutes of the drum.

The cigarettes retained by suction on the drum 12 are delivered down a guide ramp 17 into flutes on a chain conveyor 18 travelling in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 1.

The operation of the apparatus described above is as follows:

Cigarettes C are delivered in succession from the flutes of the chain conveyor 1 into the flutes 5 of the drum 3, to each of which suction is applied through the suction holes 7. One half of each cigarette, to one side of a plane through its axis, can be accommodated in a flute 5 and, if that half of the cigarette is correctly shaped and dimensioned, it will substantially fit the flute, thereby properly covering both the suction holes 7. The cigarette will therefore-be retained in the flute by suction and will be carried round on the drum 3. If, on the other hand, that half of the cigarette is incorrectly shaped or dimensioned, so that the cigarette is defective, and so that it does not fit the flute, thereby failing to properly cover either (or both) of the suction holes 7, the cigarette will fail to be retained in the flute by suction and will fall therefrom into the receptacle 11. As particular examples, a defective cigarette may be too short, thereby failing to cover one of the suction holes 7 at one of its ends; a cigarette may have too large a diameter (e.g. by reason of an improperly sealed seam) thereby failing to sit properly down in the flute and failing to properly cover one or both of the suction holes 7; a mouthpiece cigarette having a uniting band connecting its mouthpiece portion to its cigarette portion may have a corner of the uniting band improperly sealed so that it projects from the remainder of the cigarette and does not permit the cigarette to sit properly in the flute, thereby preventing one or both of the suction holes 7 from being proprely covered.

The cigarettes retained by suction in the flutes 5 are carried upwardly by the drum 3 to the top of its periphery at which position suction ceases to be applied to the flutes by reason of termination of the slot 10. The cigarettes are then delivered to the flutes 13 of drum 12 to which suction commences to be applied at this position. As previously explained, a cigarette having one half to one side of a plane through its axis, accommodated in a flute 5 on the drum 3 can be transferred to the drum 12 so that its other half, to the other side of the said plane through its axis, is accommodated in a flute 13. If the said other half is correctly shaped and dimensioned so that it substantially fits the flute, thereby properly covering both the suction holes, the cigarette will be retained in the flute 13 by suction and will be carried round on the drum 12. If, on the other hand, the said other half of the cigarette is incorrectly shaped or dimensioned, so that the cigarette is defective and so that it does not fit the flute, thereby failing to properly cover either (or both) of the suction holes, the cigarette will fail to be retained in the flute by suction and will fail therefrom into the receptacle 16.

The cigarettes retained by suction in the flutes 13 are carried round by the drum 12 and are delivered therefrom to the guide ramp 17 (at which position suction ceases to be applied to the flutes 13 by reason of termination of slot 15) and the ramp guides them into the flutes on chain conveyor 18.

It will thus be seen that theshape and dimensions of one half of a cigarette (to one side of a plane throughv its axis) are tested on the first drum 3 and, if the said one half is found satisfactory, the other half (to the other side of the said plane through its axis) is tested for shape and dimensions on the second drum 12.

If desired, means, such as spring means or means to effect a short air blast through the holes 7 in the flutes of drum 3', may be provided to assist in transferring the cigarettes from the flutes 5 of drum 3 to the flutes 13 of drum 12.

Cigarettes of a different desired length may be tested by the provision of packing pieces in association with the suction drums 3 and 12, an dcig-arettes of a different desired diameter may be tested by the provision of changepart suction drum sections.

What We claim as our invention and Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for testing rod-like cylindrical articles comprising a member having a channel to engage an article from above, the channel being at least as long as an article of correct length and having a semi-circular cross section with a radius equal to the correct radius of said atricle such that the channel will fit substantially exactly over one-half of the cylindrical surface of a satisfactory article of correct shape and dimensions and having suction port means positioned to engage a satisfactory article adjacent to its ends, whereby only satisfactory articles come within the effective range of the suction ports and are supported in the channel.

2. Apparatus for testing rod-like articles, comprising first and second conveyor means each having at least one recess, the recesses of said first conveyor means and said second conveyor means being shaped and dimensioned to conform to the total external surface on opposite sides respectively of a plane through the axis of rod-like articles of correct shape and dimensions, means for applying suction to each of said recesses whereby a correctly shaped and dimensioned article which substantially bits said recesses is held therein by said suction but an incorrectly shaped and dimensioned article which fails to fit said recesses and fails to be held by said suction falls therefrom, said means for applying suction to each of said recesses comprising suction holes in each recess disposed to engage the surface of said correctly shaped and dimensioned atricle closely adjacent its ends, a source of suction, and conduit means connecting said source to said suction holes, and means to feed rod-like articles in succession to said first conveyor means so that each article is received in a recess thereof, each article which substantially fits and is held in said recess being transferred therefrom into a recess of said second conveyor means, whereby one half of each article correctly shaped and dimensioned to one side of a plane through its axis is accommodated in a recess of said first conveyor means and transferred from said recess of said first conveyor means to a recess of said second conveyor means where the other half of each article correctly shaped and dimensioned on the other side of said plane through its axis is accommodated in said recess of said second conveyor means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first and second conveyor means comprise rotatable drums having a plurality of longitudinal peripheral flutes forming said recesses, said suction holes being disposed adjacent each end of each flute, the length of each flute being substantially equal to the correct length of the rod-like articles to be tested.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, comprising means desire to secure by supporting said drums one immediately adjacent to the other, so that the articles can be transferred from the flutes of one drum directly to the flutes of the other.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 comprising means for regulating said suction in each of said drums, whereby said articles are transferred from the flutes of one drum directly to the flutes of the other by terminating the suction in said first drum and initiating suction in said second drum.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said conduit means includes a common connection between the holes adjacent the ends of a flute and said suction source.

7. A method of testing rod-like articles comprising the steps of feeding each rod-like article successively to first and second recesses in separate members, each of said recesses being shaped and dimensioned to conform to the total external surface on opposite sides respectively of a plane through the axis of correctly shaped and dimensioned rod-like articles, and applying suction to two locations in each of said recesses, said locations being spaced to engage said article closely adjacent to its ends, whereby an article having the correct shape and dimensions will be received and retained successively in each of said recesses by said suction and an article having incorrect shape and dimensions will fail to be retained in one of said recesses by said suction and will fall therefrom.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein at least one of said members is moved to a position where said recesses face each other and upon reaching said position the suction in said first recess is terminated and the suction in said second recess is initiated, whereby an article retained in said first recess having the correct shape and dimensions on one side thereof is transferred to said second recess for testing the opposite side thereof.

9. Apparatus for testing rod-like cylindrical articles comprising a rotatable drum having peripheral flutes shaped to accommodate an article of correct shape, each flute being provided with a pair of suction holes spaced from each other such that said holes are covered by a correctly positioned article of correct length closely adjacent its ends only, a source of suction within the drum, first conduit means communicating with and connecting together the suction holes in a flute and further conduit means of smaller cross-sectional area than said first conduit means connecting said first conduit means with said source of suction, the relative dimensions of said conduit means and said holes being such as to prevent effective suction at one hole of said pair when the other hole is uncovered.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,942,606 6/1960 Rowlands 20982 X 2,984,352 5/1961 Gilman 131-21 X 3,212,507 10/1965 Schubert 131-21 3,237,444 3/1966 Kaeding et a1. 209-72 X FOREIGN PATENTS 21,535 7/1961 Germany.

ALLEN N. KNOWLES, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

